Saturday, June 21, 2014

A proposal for the University of Pennsylvania to divest its $7.7 billion endowment from tobacco stocks died Friday without a vote by the board of trustees.

Board chairman David L. Cohen said tobacco does not qualify as a "moral evil" - a criterion for divestment under Penn's policy - even though it causes serious health problems.

There's more:

Only two other board members, NBC News anchor Andrea Mitchell and former board chairman James Riepe, spoke on the issue at the meeting, both siding against divestment. All three said board members have been discussing and thinking about the issue for months since faculty began advocating for divestment.